1 Many approaches have been developed to solve the problem of building
2 a Gray code in a $\mathsf{N}$-cube~\cite{Robinson:1981:CS,DBLP:journals/combinatorics/BhatS96,ZanSup04,Bykov2016}, according to properties
3 the produced code has to verify.
4 For instance,~\cite{DBLP:journals/combinatorics/BhatS96,ZanSup04} focus on
5 balanced Gray codes. In the transition sequence of these codes,
6 the number of transitions of each element must differ
8 This uniformity is a global property on the cycle, \textit{i.e.},
9 a property that is established while traversing the whole cycle.
10 On the other hand, when the objective is to follow a subpart
11 of the Gray code and to switch each element approximately the
13 local properties are wished.
14 For instance, the locally balanced property is studied in~\cite{Bykov2016}
15 and an algorithm that establishes locally balanced Gray codes is given.
17 The current context is to provide a function
18 $f:\Bool^{\mathsf{N}} \rightarrow \Bool^{\mathsf{N}}$ by removing an Hamiltonian
19 cycle in the $\mathsf{N}$-cube. Such a function is going to be iterated
20 $b$ times to produce a pseudorandom number,
21 \textit{i.e.}, a vertex in the
23 Obviously, the number of iterations $b$ has to be sufficiently large
24 to provide a uniform output distribution.
25 To reduce the number of iterations, it can be claimed
26 that the provided Gray code
27 should ideally possess both balanced and locally balanced properties.
28 However, both algorithms are incompatible with the second one:
29 balanced Gray codes that are generated by state of the art works~\cite{ZanSup04,DBLP:journals/combinatorics/BhatS96} are not locally balanced. Conversely,
30 locally balanced Gray codes yielded by Igor Bykov approach~\cite{Bykov2016}
31 are not globally balanced.
32 This section thus shows how the non deterministic approach
33 presented in~\cite{ZanSup04} has been automatized to provide balanced
34 Hamiltonian paths such that, for each subpart,
35 the number of switches of each element is as uniform as possible.
37 \subsection{Analysis of the Robinson-Cohn extension algorithm}
38 As far as we know three works,
39 namely~\cite{Robinson:1981:CS},~\cite{DBLP:journals/combinatorics/BhatS96},
40 and~\cite{ZanSup04} have addressed the problem of providing an approach
41 to produce balanced gray code.
42 The authors of~\cite{Robinson:1981:CS} introduced an inductive approach
43 aiming at producing balanced Gray codes, assuming the user gives
44 a special subsequence of the transition sequence at each induction step.
45 This work has been strengthened in~\cite{DBLP:journals/combinatorics/BhatS96}
46 where the authors have explicitly shown how to build such a subsequence.
47 Finally the authors of~\cite{ZanSup04} have presented
48 the \emph{Robinson-Cohn extension}
49 algorithm. Their rigorous presentation of this algorithm
50 has mainly allowed them to prove two properties.
51 The former states that if
52 $\mathsf{N}$ is a 2-power, a balanced Gray code is always totally balanced.
53 The latter states that for every $\mathsf{N}$ there
54 exists a Gray code such that all transition count numbers
55 are 2-powers whose exponents are either equal
56 or differ from each other by 1.
57 However, the authors do not prove that the approach allows to build
58 (totally balanced) Gray codes.
59 What follows shows that this fact is established and first recalls the approach.
62 Let be given a $\mathsf{N}-2$-bit Gray code whose transition sequence is
63 $S_{\mathsf{N}-2}$. What follows is the
64 \emph{Robinson-Cohn extension} method~\cite{ZanSup04}
65 which produces a $\mathsf{N}$-bits Gray code.
68 \item \label{item:nondet}Let $l$ be an even positive integer. Find
69 $u_1, u_2, \dots , u_{l-2}, v$ (maybe empty) subsequences of $S_{\mathsf{N}-2}$
70 such that $S_{\mathsf{N}-2}$ is the concatenation of
72 s_{i_1}, u_0, s_{i_2}, u_1, s_{i_3}, u_2, \dots , s_{i_l-1}, u_{l-2}, s_{i_l}, v
74 where $i_1 = 1$, $i_2 = 2$, and $u_0 = \emptyset$ (the empty sequence).
75 \item\label{item:u'}Replace in $S_{\mathsf{N}-2}$ the sequences $u_0, u_1, u_2, \ldots, u_{l-2}$
77 $\mathsf{N} - 1, u'(u_1,\mathsf{N} - 1, \mathsf{N}) , u'(u_2,\mathsf{N}, \mathsf{N} - 1), u'(u_3,\mathsf{N} - 1,\mathsf{N}), \dots, u'(u_{l-2},\mathsf{N}, \mathsf{N} - 1)$
78 respectively, where $u'(u,x,y)$ is the sequence $u,x,u^R,y,u$ such that
79 $u^R$ is $u$ in reversed order.
80 The obtained sequence is further denoted as $U$.
81 \item\label{item:VW} Construct the sequences $V=v^R,\mathsf{N},v$, $W=\mathsf{N}-1,S_{\mathsf{N}-2},\mathsf{N}$, and let $W'$ be $W$ where the first
82 two elements have been exchanged.
83 \item The transition sequence $S_{\mathsf{N}}$ is thus the concatenation $U^R, V, W'$.
86 It has been proven in~\cite{ZanSup04} that
87 $S_{\mathsf{N}}$ is the transition sequence of a cyclic $\mathsf{N}$-bits Gray code
88 if $S_{\mathsf{N}-2}$ is.
89 However, step~(\ref{item:nondet}) is not a constructive
90 step that precises how to select the subsequences which ensure that
91 yielded Gray code is balanced.
92 Following sections show how to choose the sequence $l$ to have the balance property.
94 \subsection{Balanced Codes}
95 Let us first recall how to formalize the balance property of a Gray code.
96 Let $L = w_1, w_2, \dots, w_{2^\mathsf{N}}$ be the sequence
97 of a $\mathsf{N}$-bits cyclic Gray code.
98 The transition sequence
99 $S = s_1, s_2, \dots, s_{2^n}$, $s_i$, $1 \le i \le 2^\mathsf{N}$,
100 indicates which bit position changes between
101 codewords at index $i$ and $i+1$ modulo $2^\mathsf{N}$.
102 The \emph{transition count} function
103 $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}} : \{1,\dots, \mathsf{N}\} \rightarrow \{0, \ldots, 2^{\mathsf{N}}\}$
104 gives the number of times $i$ occurs in $S$,
105 \textit{i.e.}, the number of times
106 the bit $i$ has been switched in $L$.
108 The Gray code is \emph{totally balanced} if $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}$
109 is constant (and equal to $\frac{2^{\mathsf{N}}}{\mathsf{N}}$).
110 It is \emph{balanced} if for any two bit indices $i$ and $j$,
111 $|\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) - \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(j)| \le 2$.
116 Let $L^*=000,100,101,001,011,111,$ $110,010$ be the Gray code that corresponds to
117 the Hamiltonian cycle that has been removed in $f^*$.
118 Its transition sequence is $S=3,1,3,2,3,1,3,2$ and its transition count function is
119 $\textit{TC}_3(1)= \textit{TC}_3(2)=2$ and $\textit{TC}_3(3)=4$. Such a Gray code is balanced.
121 Let $L^4$ $=0000,0010,0110,1110,1111,0111,0011,0001,0101,0100,1100,1101,1001,1011,1010,1000$
122 be a cyclic Gray code. Since $S=2,3,4,1,4,$ $3,2,3,1,4,1,3,2,1,2,4$, $\textit{TC}_4$ is equal to 4 everywhere, this code
123 is thus totally balanced.
125 On the contrary, for the standard $4$-bits Gray code
126 $L^{\textit{st}}=0000,0001,0011,
127 0010,0110,0111,0101,0100,$ \newline $1100,1101,1111,1110,1010,1011,1001,1000$,
128 we have $\textit{TC}_4(1)=8$ $\textit{TC}_4(2)=4$ $\textit{TC}_4(3)=\textit{TC}_4(4)=2$ and
129 the code is neither balanced nor totally balanced.
133 \begin{thrm}\label{prop:balanced}
134 Let $\mathsf{N}$ in $\Nats^*$, and $a_{\mathsf{N}}$ be defined by
135 $a_{\mathsf{N}}= 2 \left\lfloor \dfrac{2^{\mathsf{N}}}{2\mathsf{N}} \right\rfloor$.
136 There exists then a sequence $l$ in
137 step~(\ref{item:nondet}) of the \emph{Robinson-Cohn extension} algorithm
138 such that all the transition counts $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i)$
139 are $a_{\mathsf{N}}$ or $a_{\mathsf{N}}+2$
140 for any $i$, $1 \le i \le \mathsf{N}$.
147 The proof is done by induction on $\mathsf{N}$. Let us immediately verify
148 that it is established for both odd and even smallest values, \textit{i.e.},
150 For the initial case where $\mathsf{N}=3$, \textit{i.e.}, $\mathsf{N-2}=1$ we successively have: $S_1=1,1$, $l=2$, $u_0 = \emptyset$, and $v=\emptyset$.
151 Thus again the algorithm successively produces
152 $U= 1,2,1$, $V = 3$, $W= 2, 1, 1,3$, and $W' = 1,2,1,3$.
153 Finally, $S_3$ is $1,2,1,3,1,2,1,3$ which obviously verifies the theorem.
154 For the initial case where $\mathsf{N}=4$, \textit{i.e.}, $\mathsf{N-2}=2$
155 we successively have: $S_1=1,2,1,2$, $l=4$,
156 $u_0,u_1,u_2 = \emptyset,\emptyset,\emptyset$, and $v=\emptyset$.
157 Thus again the algorithm successively produces
158 $U= 1,3,2,3,4,1,4,3,2$, $V = 4$, $W= 3, 1, 2, 1,2, 4$, and $W' = 1, 3, 2, 1,2, 4 $.
161 2,3,4,1,4,3,2,3,1,4,1,3,2,1,2,4
163 such that $\textit{TC}_4(i) = 4$ and the theorem is established for
164 odd and even initial values.
167 For the inductive case, let us first define some variables.
168 Let $c_{\mathsf{N}}$ (resp. $d_{\mathsf{N}}$) be the number of elements
169 whose transition count is exactly $a_{\mathsf{N}}$ (resp $a_{\mathsf{N}} +2$).
170 Both of these variables are defined by the system
175 c_{\mathsf{N}} + d_{\mathsf{N}} & = & \mathsf{N} \\
176 c_{\mathsf{N}}a_{\mathsf{N}} + d_{\mathsf{N}}(a_{\mathsf{N}}+2) & = & 2^{\mathsf{N}}
182 d_{\mathsf{N}} & = & \dfrac{2^{\mathsf{N}} -\mathsf{N}.a_{\mathsf{N}}}{2} \\
183 c_{\mathsf{N}} &= &\mathsf{N} - d_{\mathsf{N}}
188 Since $a_{\mathsf{N}}$ is even, $d_{\mathsf{N}}$ is an integer.
189 Let us first prove that both $c_{\mathsf{N}}$ and $d_{\mathsf{N}}$ are positive
191 Let $q_{\mathsf{N}}$ and $r_{\mathsf{N}}$, respectively, be
192 the quotient and the remainder in the Euclidean division
193 of $2^{\mathsf{N}}$ by $2\mathsf{N}$, \textit{i.e.},
194 $2^{\mathsf{N}} = q_{\mathsf{N}}.2\mathsf{N} + r_{\mathsf{N}}$, with $0 \le r_{\mathsf{N}} <2\mathsf{N}$.
195 First of all, the integer $r$ is even since $r_{\mathsf{N}} = 2^{\mathsf{N}} - q_{\mathsf{N}}.2\mathsf{N}= 2(2^{\mathsf{N}-1} - q_{\mathsf{N}}.\mathsf{N})$.
196 Next, $a_{\mathsf{N}}$ is $\frac{2^{\mathsf{N}}-r_{\mathsf{N}}}{\mathsf{N}}$. Consequently
197 $d_{\mathsf{N}}$ is $r_{\mathsf{N}}/2$ and is thus a positive integer s.t.
198 $0 \le d_{\mathsf{N}} <\mathsf{N}$.
199 The proof for $c_{\mathsf{N}}$ is obvious.
202 For any $i$, $1 \le i \le \mathsf{N}$, let $zi_{\mathsf{N}}$ (resp. $ti_{\mathsf{N}}$ and $bi_{\mathsf{N}}$)
203 be the occurrence number of element $i$ in the sequence $u_0, \dots, u_{l-2}$
204 (resp. in the sequences $s_{i_1}, \dots , s_{i_l}$ and $v$)
205 in step (\ref{item:nondet}) of the algorithm.
207 Due to the definition of $u'$ in step~(\ref{item:u'}),
208 $3.zi_{\mathsf{N}} + ti_{\mathsf{N}}$ is the
209 number of element $i$ in the sequence $U$.
210 It is clear that the number of element $i$ in the sequence $V$ is
211 $2bi_{\mathsf{N}}$ due to step (\ref{item:VW}).
212 We thus have the following system:
216 3.zi_{\mathsf{N}} + ti_{\mathsf{N}} + 2.bi_{\mathsf{N}} + \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i) &= &\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) \\
217 zi_{\mathsf{N}} + ti_{\mathsf{N}} + bi_{\mathsf{N}} & =& \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)
228 \dfrac{\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) - 2.\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i) - bi_{\mathsf{N}}}{2}\\
229 ti_{\mathsf{N}} &= & \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)-zi_{\mathsf{N}}-bi_{\mathsf{N}}
235 In this set of 2 equations with 3 unknown variables, let $b_i$ be set with 0.
236 In this case, since $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}$ is even (equal to $a_{\mathsf{N}}$
237 or to $a_{\mathsf{N}}+2$), the variable $zi_{\mathsf{N}}$ is thus an integer.
238 Let us now prove that the resulting system has always positive integer
239 solutions $z_i$, $t_i$, $0 \le z_i, t_i \le \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)$
240 and s.t. their sum is equal to $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)$.
241 This latter constraint is obviously established if the system has a solution.
242 We thus have the following system.
250 \dfrac{\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) - 2.\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i) }{2}\\
251 ti_{\mathsf{N}} &= & \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)-zi_{\mathsf{N}}
257 The definition of $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i)$ depends on the value of $\mathsf{N}$.
258 When $3 \le N \le 7$, values are defined as follows:
260 \textit{TC}_{3} & = & [2,2,4] \\
261 \textit{TC}_{5} & = & [6,6,8,6,6] \\
262 \textit{TC}_{7} & = & [18,18,20,18,18,18,18] \\
264 \textit{TC}_{4} & = & [4,4,4,4] \\
265 \textit{TC}_{6} & = & [10,10,10,10,12,12] \\
267 It is not difficult to check that all these instanciations verify the aforementioned constraints.
269 When $N \ge 8$, $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i)$ is defined as follows:
271 \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) = \left\{
273 a_{\mathsf{N}} \textrm{ if } 1 \le i \le c_{\mathsf{N}} \\
274 a_{\mathsf{N}}+2 \textrm{ if } c_{\mathsf{N}} +1 \le i \le c_{\mathsf{N}} + d_{\mathsf{N}}
284 \textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) - 2.\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)
286 a_{\mathsf{N}} - 2(a_{\mathsf{N}-2}+2) \\
288 \frac{2^{\mathsf{N}}-r_{\mathsf{N}}}{\mathsf{N}}
289 -2 \left( \frac{2^{\mathsf{N-2}}-r_{\mathsf{N-2}}}{\mathsf{N-2}}+2\right)\\
291 \frac{2^{\mathsf{N}}-2N}{\mathsf{N}}
292 -2 \left( \frac{2^{\mathsf{N-2}}}{\mathsf{N-2}}+2\right)\\
294 \frac{(\mathsf{N} -2).2^{\mathsf{N}}-2N.2^{\mathsf{N-2}}-6N(N-2)}{\mathsf{N.(N-2)}}\\
298 A simple variation study of the function $t:\R \rightarrow \R$ such that
299 $x \mapsto t(x) = (x -2).2^{x}-2x.2^{x-2}-6x(x-2)$ shows that
300 its derivative is strictly positive if $x \ge 6$ and $t(8)=224$.
301 The integer $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) - 2.\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}-2}(i)$ is thus positive
302 for any $\mathsf{N} \ge 8$ and the proof is established.
307 % \begin{array}{|l|l|l|l|l|l|}
309 % \mathsf{N} & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7\\
311 % a_{\mathsf{N}} & 2 & 4 & 6 & 10 & 18\\
316 % \caption{First values of $a_{\mathsf{N}}$}
319 For each element $i$, we are then left to choose $zi_{\mathsf{N}}$ positions
320 among $\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i)$, which leads to
321 ${\textit{TC}_{\mathsf{N}}(i) \choose zi_{\mathsf{N}} }$ possibilities.
322 Notice that all such choices lead to an Hamiltonian path.
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